Cone: Gilas to fight for Olympic spot
QUALIFY for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is Gilas Pilipinas’ ultimate goal under new permanent head coach Tim Cone.
Cone himself said that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ (SBP) plan is for
Gilas to make the FIBA World Cup in Qatar come 2027 and have the Philippines finish as the best Asian team, which then merits an outright berth to the LA Games.
It was something that Gilas could not pull off in the World Cup edition last year with that Asian slot to the Paris Olympics being gifted to Japan for being the Asian team with the best record in the tournament.
“The ultimate goal for the SBP is to make it to the LA Olympics. I think that’s the ultimate goal. That’s what they are looking for,” said Cone in Noli Eala’s “Power and Play” program on Saturday, February 10.
“Ultimately, We want to be playing in the Qatar World Cup. We have to qualify first but we want to be playing in the Qatar World Cup and we want to finish first in Asia, and get a berth in the LA Olympics. That’s been clear to me. That’s the goal of the SBP.”
Make no mistake, Cone said that Gilas will still try its best to make this year’s Paris Olympics through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia this July no matter how hard it is.
“We are going to the qualifier in July. We leave in late June. We have an opportunity to qualify. It’s going to be a tough, tough road with Latvia playing at home. Georgia top, a 20 team. It’s really difficult but not impossible,” said Cone, who led the Philippines to its first Asian Games basketball gold medal last year.
Cone said that Gilas will come to Latvia looking to win games and not moral victories.
“We are not going out there with the idea that we’re just going to show up and try to look good. We are going to go out there and try to win. That’s always going to be our philosophy. That will always be our goal. It won’t be our focus but it will be our goal. Our focus is just to get the process of getting better every day. But the goal is to win,” said Cone.
Gilas Pilipinas, led by the returning Justin Brownlee, get to test its mettle this early as it prepares for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers to battle Hong Kong on the road on February 22 and Taiwan at home on February 25 at the PhilSports Arena.